Life in 8-bit motion:
internet
Oh, Digital Age
Reaching out to touch someone is different than it was before.
In a matter of clicks we are displacing electrons.
Instead of misplacing hand-drawn ‘do you like me’s,
A page (in a book with no pages) allows us to affirm or deny:
Leaving digital trails, crumbling microchip cookies.
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Even When It Seems Impossible, You Can Still Find Ways to Win
Welcome on back to the top of the week. To ease you into your Monday, how ’bout a roundup of all things awesome that the internet had to offer this weekend:
Adorably illustrated thoughts from Susan Sontag on love are (unsurprisingly) poignant and wonderful. Enjoy.
What happens when a girl lets her boyfriend do her entire makeup for her.
Innovation and the Key to Malcolm Gladwell’s Success? Yes, please. Hint: persistence is a major player.
While I haven’t been able to catch much of the Olympics so far, I’ve been replaying this moment over and over due to its sheer brilliance.
Creativity = intelligence + daydreaming.
World’s A Stage: Spotlight on Russia
What do a bare-chested Vladimir Putin stroking the backside of an Olympic gymnast, a Botox overdose, and a partial brain transplant all have to do with each other? They can all be seen in a sold-out, groundbreaking new staging of a play in Moscow. This is what happens when politics and theatre collide in Russia.
The play, titled “Berlusputin,” premiered ahead of the March 4 polls for presidency (Putin has now won back the presidency). The show draws inspiration from the incendiary internet gossip swirling around the election and breaks almost every remaining taboo about the Russian leader’s personal life. The text is an adaption of “L’anomalo Bicefalo,” a work by an Italian playwright.
A glimpse into this unique and enchanting evening of theatre:
- This production imagines what might happen if half of former Italian prime minister and Putin buddy Silvio Berlusconi’s brain was transplanted into Putin’s head after an accident.
- The show performs in the ground-breaking Teatr.doc house, an intense black box space in the middle of Moscow renowned for its hard-hitting political plays
- The actor playing Putin wears foam muscles strapped to his chest; the actress playing opposite him devoutly dons a headscarf to portray his wife Lyudmila, who got a little too close to her spiritual advisor at a monastery.
- Putin tries a little too hard not to look his age and the resulting Botox overdose turns Putin into Dobby the house elf from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. (Putin was reportedly offended by widespread comments on his resemblance to Dobby when the the film depiction came out back in 2003.)
The Internet rumors of Putin’s Botox use, the mucky situtation with his estranged wife, and his hardcore crush on Olympic rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabayeva all were fodder for the play – much to the demise of the state, and much to the delight of almost everyone else in the country. The director has promised that they will continue to do the play as long as Putin is in power.
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The Best Onstage Cameo of All Time
In the midst of all the SOPA and Protect IP madness, I figured I would share a lil’ video pick-me-up to help you manage with the otherwise harrowing news about the future of the interwebs.
Ellen DeGeneres makes her Broadway debut in the most recent revival of Promises, Promises. While this was her first time on the Great White Way, I hope it’s not her last.
Thoughts on Theatre 